Sports clubs, youth groups and community organisations from across London can now apply for grants of up to £1,500 to run free sport activities.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has opened a new round of funding for his hugely popular grassroots sports programme that allows people of all ages and abilities to try out new sports.
FreeSport, in association with Coca Cola Zero ParkLives, will enable approximately 34,000 people to get into the sporting habit and provide grants for around 600 sports clubs and organisations over the next two years.
The Mayor is now accepting applications for the FreeSport winter / spring 2015 funding round. This will support successful applicants to deliver free sporting activities between January 1 and April 12, 2015.
FreeSport is a key part of the Mayor's £22.5m Sports Legacy Programme. Since it launched in 2009, the programme has benefitted more than 350,000 Londoners. The Mayor has invested almost £900,000 in FreeSport which has engaged almost 60,000 people.
Cola Cola Great Britain has match-funded a £500,000 investment in FreeSport from the Mayor. This will allow the programme to reach twice as many people by 2016.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "FreeSport has been incredibly popular since it launched in 2009, giving thousands of people the chance to develop a sporting habit that will stay with them for life. I am delighted that we have now opened a new round of funding and I would like to urge sports clubs and organisations to take advantage of this fantastic offer."
Jon Woods, General Manager, Coca-Cola Great Britain said: We're delighted to be partnering with the Mayor to address the issue of inactivity and inspire Londoners to get active in fun and sociable ways. This is part of our commitment to help get one million people active by 2020. I hope that people of all ages who might be struggling to find free opportunities will now have more options to enjoy being active."
Earlier this year, FreeSport awarded 160 sports clubs and organisations a total of £200,000 in its latest round of funding. FreeSport projects are delivered as a series of activities, rather than one off events. This helps make the activity become a habit and helps offer a clear route for people to carry on playing sport afterwards.
Coca-Cola Great Britain is investing £20m in active lifestyle programmes from now until 2020 to help to get one million people active. This year as part of this commitment the company launched Coca-Cola Zero ParkLives, a programme offering free and fun physical activity sessions in local parks. The programme is delivered in partnership with local authorities including the London Borough of Newham.
The deadline for applications is noon on Monday 27 October 2014.
To apply for funding visit www.london.gov.uk/freesport
Notes to editors
Mayor's Sports Legacy Programme
The Mayor's Sports Legacy Programme is supporting London's promise of an Olympic legacy by investing £22.5m in projects across every London borough and creating hundreds of thousands of opportunities for Londoners to get into sport.
In addition to FreeSport, there are four other elements of the Programme. These are:
Sports Participation Fund - invests in grassroots sports organisations, to get more Londoners playing sport, more often.
Building capacity and skills - equipping London's sports clubs with the personnel, infrastructure, and other support required to deliver a lasting legacy of increased sports participation.
Sports Facilities Fund - used to invest in local sports clubs to build new or refurbish existing sports facilities.
Make a Splash - brings mobile swimming pools to locations across London for 12 weeks at a time.